With a 13-1 mercy-rule-shortened victory, the Ridge Meadows Dynamite won the U20 C provincial softball championship on Sunday, July 5.
“It was a really great tournament, and we’ve been working hard all year for this,” said team captain Carrie Viskovic.
The Dynamite had a great season, entering six invitational tournaments and always finishing in the medals.
Then, hosting the provincial championships through the weekend, they stumbled through the round-robin portion with two wins and two losses. Fortunately it was good enough to put them through to the knockout round, where they lost no more.
“We just came together as a team, and our attitudes changed,” said Viskovic, a pitcher nicknamed “Captain Spicy” for her competitive edge.
They got rolling, an in the gold medal game beat the Enderby Storm by a score of 13-1.
In May, the same two teams met in the final at a Kamloops tournament. Back then, Enderby took gold and Ridge settled for silver, so the B.C. championship was sweet revenge, according to Captain Spicy.
She was on the team for 13 years, and played with the same group of girls for many of those.
“Everybody really cared a lot about the team,” said Viskovic. “We weren’t really worried about making mistakes, and we had a lot of fun together.”
There were four MVPs chosen in the round-robin – shortstop Rachel Sherling, catcher Seed Punzalan, Viskovic and Jenna Penner.
Once they got rolling in the knockout round, the games weren’t close. They beat Howe Sound 10-3, Abbotsford 7-3, Enderby 11-5, and then in the final, they beat Enderby again 13-1.
“We’ve had some on this team that have been on since little kids playing in the dirt and some that recently joined us, but they all came together as a team,” said coach Carissa Kennedy. “We are incredibly proud of each of you for your flexibility, great attitudes and commitment to excellence!”
“Our provincial road started out rough and we didn’t feel like ourselves, but I’m thankful for our captain and leaders that inspired fun, and encouraged everyone to refresh and stay positive,” she added. “We lit it up in playoffs!”
Kennedy thanked assistant coaches Brad Penner and Jared Meredith.
She also credited the Ridge Meadows Minor softball Association for an “incredible job” hosting the event, and gave props to the other Ridge teams that were a big part of the weekend success. The Chaos and Fireballs also got to participate in the provincials, and Chaos won a silver medal in the silver bracket.